Look at Nelson Cruz

In the first two games of spring training Nelson Cruz hit a home run in each one of them. It looks like he is ready to go for another season.

It is amazing to think that this will be his third season with the Mariners and he has been well worth it. Sure means that time is going by so fast.

The thing about Cruz is not only has he been effective hitting home runs and driving in runs for the Mariners he is good in the clubhouse and in the community. He always has a smile on his face and along with Robinson Cano works well with the younger players. It is almost like they have another couple coaches on the staff.

Cruz will have one more year left on his current four year contract after this one. His first year with the Mariners he primarily played in right field and then last year was at designated hitter more than in the field. Most of his time in the field was during the first half since he did come down with some injuries. It was quite amazing during September though he was hurting a lot he still went to the plate as often as he could to see if the Mariners could make it into the playoffs which they just missed by. He didn’t play in the final game of the season since they were eliminated at that point.

This year the Mariners will primarily have him at designated hitter though he will get into some games in the field depending on how healthy he can stay. Again he will bat fourth in the lineup. The last three years has been his best years hitting forty or more home runs in each of them. With the Mariners he hit 44 in 2015 and 43 in 2016. It will be interesting to see if he can keep up with that another year. Although it would be nice to see another year in the forties I am sure we will take over thirty home runs long as he is able to stay healthy all year and the Mariners make the playoffs. He will be turning thirty-seven years old on July 1 and he will be thirty-eight when his contract expires. I am sure the Mariners will look to give another contract may be two years if he continues to contribute.

Robinson Cano will be turning thirty-five years old in October so it will be interesting to see if the Mariners will want both in the lineup at older ages in two years. Cano is on a long term contract so he will still be around for some time. His defense at second base was good as ever last year and he keeps himself in pretty good shape as well.

This all shows along with Felix and Iwakuma getting older it will be important that the Mariners make it into the playoffs and hopefully the World Series in the next two years. Knowing Dipoto he will look to improve the Mariners again during the next off-season as well. It is good that he is adding depth for this year and for the years to come. Go M’s.  

Mariners Make It Two and Zero

The Mariners have now played two games against the San Diego Padres in Peoria, Arizona. Both teams share the training site so the Padres were the home team in game 1 while the Mariners were in game 2.

The Mariners have made thirteen their lucky number so far winning both games scoring thirteen runs while Padres scored three in game 1 and two in game 2.

The Mariners managing staff for the second year say the team must control the batting zone on both ends in pitching and hitting and so far have done it. In game two the Padres pitchers had a hard time getting the ball over the plate so the Mariners walked fourteen times along with eleven hits. In the meantime the Mariner pitchers were able to keep the ball in the batting zone themselves. The Mariner pitchers did not walk a batter though they only struck out four while yielding eight hits. Out of those hits five were given up by Christian Bergman and the two runs in the fifth and sixth inning. Bergman is expected to start the season with Tacoma. He did pitch the last three years with the Colorado Rockies. He was used both starting and relieving.

Chris Heston who started the game and pitched two innings gave up one hit and struck out a better to. In the first inning he got the first three batters out on six pitches. Likely will start the season with Tacoma but won’t be surprised at some point he will start at least one game for the Mariners.

Nelson Cruz started the scoring once again for the Mariners leading off the second inning. He got a single in his only other appearance in the game. It looks like Cruz is all ready for the season. He isn’t in the starting lineup for Monday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.

Jarrod Dyson will be leading off against his former team the Royals on Monday. He looks like not only he is ready to get on and steal bases he is good in the Mariners locker room too. He has a personality that shines and loud. Other regular starters for the Mariners against the Royals will be Segura batting second again at shortstop followed by Kyle Seager at third base. Neither Cruz nor Cano will be in this game so Valencia will be starting at first base and be hitting fourth. He will be followed by Mitch Haniger in right field and catcher Mike Zunino both making their second starts of the spring. Utility player Taylor Motter will follow playing second base than minor league catcher Tyler Marlette will be designated hitter and Leonys Martin will be ninth and playing center field.

Yovani Gallardo who the Mariners traded for with the Baltimore Orioles will make his spring training debut. He is expected to be the Mariners fifth starter. He had a poor season last year after signing as a free agent with the Orioles. The Mariners are hoping that he can pitch close to what he did for the Texas Rangers in 2015. He had a 13-11 record that year with an era of 3.42 starting thirty-three games. Early in his career he was known as a strikeout pitcher. He averaged more than one strike out per inning but now he hasn’t. The Mariners will be thankful if he can start around thirty games.

The Mariners will have three pitchers also going for them Monday against the Royals who are expected to be in their bullpen. Left handed specialist Marc Rzepczynski, hard thrower Dan Altavilla who made his major league and Mariner debut in August and Nick Vincent who the Mariners picked up at the end of last spring training. Jonathan Aro and Rob Whalen both expected to pitch for Tacoma will pitch as well. So we will see if the Mariner pitching continues in the control zone on Monday. The game again will be broadcasted on the Mariner radio network. Go M’s.

Game One Spring Training Coming Up Saturday

The day has arrived where the Mariners will be having their first game of the spring training on this day of February 25.

The starting lineup for the game looks like the one that may start the regular season. Only three players that we are familiar with will start this game along with Mike Zunino at catcher and Leonys Martin in center field. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager will again be in the middle of the lineup batting three thru five.

The Mariners will be starting two guys at the top of the lineup in Jarrod Dyson in left field and Jean Segura at shortstop. These two will get things going for the big three as we will call them. We hope that either or both will get on in the first inning in most of the Mariner games. Manager Scott Servais have giving both of them the green light to steal bases. Last year before coming to Seattle combined they had more stolen bases than the whole Mariner team. Not only we hope that they score early but they can help with runs throughout the game. The problem with last season’s team is that they would only score early and then the opposition was able to get back into the game. There were times that the Mariners rallied late in the ninth inning but the Mariners don’t want to count on that this season.  It would be nice to score at least one run during the middle innings to put pressure on the other team and the pitching staff will feel comfortable with a good lead.

Mitch Haniger in right field and Daniel Vogelbach at first base will bat sixth and the seventh in the batting before Zunino and Martin. With Martin batting ninth that will help rally continue with Dyson and Segura at the top. Danny Valencia who will play some at first base or in the outfield will bat in either Haniger or Vogelbach’s spot in the lineup or could bat second when Dyson isn’t in the lineup. Although the lineup is suspected to look like this when the season opens there could be a little change depending on how Haniger and Vogelbach do during the spring. Depending on their performances either or both could start the season in Tacoma as well. The Mariners are hoping that is not the case.

Ariel Miranda will start Saturday’s game for the Mariners against the San Diego Padres. There will be no television only on the Mariner radio network. Miranda is expected to go two innings followed by Ryan Weber, Cody Martin, James Pazos, Shae Simmons and Casey Fien. Martin was only one of those who pitched at all for the Mariners last year though he spent most of the season in Tacoma. Simmons and Fien are the only ones to have a chance to make the bullpen out of spring training. Pazos being a lefty could start the season in the bullpen if the Mariners either have Miranda in the starting rotation or he is sent down in Tacoma. He would only be in the rotation if something is wrong with any of the other pitchers expected to start. The Mariners staff so far likes what they see out of Pazos.

The Mariners first television game telecasted in Arizona won’t be until March 5 so those games on the radio only the fans will have to use their imagination on how the players are doing at the plate in the field. I expect though that some video will be shown on the Mariner’s website too. Go M’s.

Defense and Base Paths

 

There were two areas that the Mariners were not good at last year except in a few positions and that was the defense. Also again last year they were terrible at times on the base paths as well. It was that way the last couple years before that to.

Last week when the pitchers reported one of the first things they did was working on taking a grounder on the pitching mound and throwing it first base.

Now that the regular players are in camp this week they will be working on running the bases. Though they do have more speed this year it is important to be smart when to run the bases whether it is to steal a base or go from first to third or second to home. Even a little improvement could lead the Mariners to additional win or two.

This can be said for the defense as well.  Robinson Cano had another stellar season last year at second base and I expect that will continue this upcoming season. Kyle Seager made some excellent plays however his defense seemed to be a little off at times last year. I know that he is proud of his defense so I expect that he will be back to where he was a couple years ago. Ketel Marte had an off year at shortstop especially coming off the disabled list a couple times. Now that Jean Segura is the regular shortstop this will improve the infield defense. This could improve the wins for the Mariners for another couple. At first base this is a question mark concerning defense. They say that Daniel Vogelbach looks more agile than he did when he was called up in September. The Mariners should be fine there as long as he and Valencia can match or surpass the defense of Dae-Ho Lee and Adam Lind last season. There is a good possibility whoever wins the utility position for the Mariners will spend some time especially late in games at first base too. This is especially true when Vogelbach starts and could be lifted for a pinch runner late in games.

Leonys Martin played a solid center field last year and I expect that he will do the same again this year. It looks though when he does needs rest or goes on the disable list for a short period like last year the Mariners will be much better position defensively as a replaced. Most likely newcomer veteran Jerrod Dyson will play some in center field as well. This is what makes the Mariners defense in the outfield better is that any of the guys in the outfield can play center field as well. They have all had experience out there. The only outfielder who won’t play centerfield for sure is Nelson Cruz. When Cruz is not at designated hitter he will be in right field. I don’t expect out there much especially in Safeco Field. Of course a lot will depend how healthy he can stay.

It will be nice to see that both left and right field will be played by guys that will be better than those last year. It will be nice to see the pitchers not having to throw extra pitches in some innings. The difference in defense should allow the starters to go a little bit further in the game.

It should be exciting to see the playing of the defense in the outfield this coming season along with running the bases. It would be great to see more hit and runs along with more stealing of bases. Dyson and Segura stole more bases than the whole Mariners team did last year. Also when Leonys Martin arrived in camp on Wednesday he said that he is looking to do more stealing and running the bases than hitting home runs. He feels that is the most important part of his game on the offensive side. He is looking to elevate his batting average well as his on base percentage. If he can raise that ten points on each that would help the Mariners out. 

This coming Saturday on February 25^th is when the spring training games begins. Look forward to seeing the action of the new guys along with the return players. Go M’s.

 

 

 

Seahawks Off-Season

As the Seattle Mariner are in spring training getting ready for their 2017 regular season to get ready in April I will  write about the Seahawks off-season.

It was nice to see the NFL was able to get past the Richard Sherman injury and not fine the Seahawks a draft pick. I hope not to hear much about Sherman until pre-season gets underway. I know that we heard enough about him already.

I am sure we will hear about Kam Chancellor’s contract since he has a year remaining on it. Like Michael Bennet the Seahawks could give him an extension depending how healthy they feel he will be. We do know that he is an important part of the Seahawks defense.

New Thursday February 28 will be when Coach Pete Carroll, general manager John Schneider and their staffs will be going to Indianapolis for the college combine. The question is what the Seahawks will be looking for in the college draft. I expect early in the draft they will go for the best player available whether it is a defensive back or an offensive tackle especially. The rest of the draft would not surprise me if they go with a lot of defensive players since last year they went the offensive route instead.

When it comes to veteran free agency they may go for an offensive tackle and a defensive back depending how the draft goes. When it comes to college free agency we will see players all over the map when it comes to positions.

The Seahawks may lose a few players themselves in veteran free agency.  One of the big ones could be tight end Luke Willson. Though he would like to stay a Seahawk they may not be able to afford what other teams may give to him. The Seahawks have other priorities to fill positions. Of course if he does leave the Seahawks will look for someone at a more reasonable price.

The Seahawks have the lowest offensive line when it comes to salary in the league so it would not be a surprise if they pick up a real good veteran tackle if the draft doesn’t bring along a good player to fill the spot. The importance is not to keep going the way they have been in the last several years. The center with Justin Britt and the guard spots seem to be filled nicely. The Seahawks ended the season with George Fant at left tackle who never played the position before last season on any level and Garry Gilliam at right tackle who had an up and down season. Gilliam doesn’t seem to be any more than a backup and the question is still out on Fant. I am sure the Seahawks will have competition at both positions going into training camp. Hopefully a veteran will come in at one of those two spots or a draft pick.

We will see what Coach Carroll and John Schneider will like after the combine is over and I am sure we will hear some names as far as veteran free agents as well. While I be watching baseball I will keep my eye on the Seahawks as well. Go Hawks!!

This Week in Spring Training

Last Tuesday was when the Mariner pitchers and catchers started in spring training and the regular players started on Sunday. This is the week that the players will continue getting ready for playing time. Some players like Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz will be playing the World Baseball Classic coming up soon.

Felix has thrown batting practice a couple times already. Like most of the pitchers he will be having short spirts throwing pitches. The first game coming up for the Mariners will be on this next Saturday February 25. At this point we will start seeing how everyone is doing. I am sure most will look forward to see how the new players are doing along with the key players.

General Manager Jerry Dipoto has brought in several left handed relievers though the two spots should be taken up by Marc Rzepczynski and Ariel Maranda. Rzepczynski is expected to be left handed short reliever specialist while Maranda will pitch long relief. The Mariners will have Maranda starting several games during spring training just in case they need him to start early in the rotation. This will depend on the health of the five pitchers in the starting rotation.  The Mariners have a lot of confidence in Miranda at this time so he will likely start some games as well in the bullpen.

Nick Hagadone left hander out of Sumner, Washington was signed recently on a minor league contract. He didn’t pitch last season however was with the Cleveland Indians in 2015. He should start the season with the Tacoma Rainiers to add depth. Another lefty expected to start the season with the Rainiers is Paul Fry who pitched last year there as well. He was in 48 games for the Rainiers last season with an era of 2.78. He was drafted by the Mariners in 2013 in the 17^th round. He could see some action with the Mariners during this upcoming season.

Another lefty the Mariners got was in the trade with the Arizona Diamondback for TaiJuan Walker and Marte in Zac Curtis. He is expected to start the season in Tacoma as well. His success could swing the trade really into the Mariners favor.

So depending how spring training goes the Mariners may have three lefties in Tacoma to bring up if Miranda goes into the starting rotation at some point in the season.

Look forward to see how everything goes throughout spring training. Besides the depth in the pitching there is

the utility player position that will be interesting to see who wins the spot along with the outfield. Right now everyone is in camp except Leonys Martin. This will allow the outfielders to have more action and be seen by the coaching staff. Go M’s.

 

Spring Training Begins

Today February 14 the pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Today will be physicals and then tomorrow they start throwing and other exercises.

The pitching staff for the Seattle Mariners this coming season is not a lot of surprises. The starting rotation is pretty much in order and the bullpen is to.

The catchers are the same like the pitchers where Mike Zunino is expected to be the starter and Carlos Ruiz his backup. The only change would be if one of the two gets hurt. Tuffy Gosewisch the Mariners picked up on waivers will likely start in Tacoma. Jesus Sucre who spent last season when he became healthy with Tacoma and then came up in September was traded to Tampa Bay. The reason was that he was out of options. Like Seattle he is added depth for catching for Tampa Bay. He may start the season in triple A unless an injury occurs.

The Mariners starting pitching will be Felix Hernandez who the Mariners hope and expect to return to top form than followed by James Paxton and Iwakuma. They picked up Drew Smyly from Tampa Bay as the second lefty and Yovani Gallardo from Baltimore for outfielder Seth Smith. Smyly and Gallardo are not typical fourth and fifth starters. Ariel Miranda who ended last season as the fifth starter will likely be the second lefty in the bullpen as long reliever and will start when necessary.

Speaking of the bullpen Marc Rzepczynski will be the left handed specialist who the Mariners signed as a free agent. Since Charlie Furbush is now a free agent and not expected to pitch at all this season the Mariners felt it was necessary to pick up a left handed pitcher the bullpen.

Having Miranda and Rzepczynski as the two lefties this will leave five right handed pitchers in the bullpen. Edwin Diaz is expected to be the closer while Steve Cishek will be the primary setup man in the eighth inning. He may close as well when Diaz needs a rest. Because of off-season surgery he may not start the season so there is a spot for someone to make the opening roster.

Evan Scribner who an excellent September after being out all season should have a good position being the first right handed pitcher coming in the sixth inning; also Nick Vincent who had a good season when he wasn’t hurt should come in the seventh inning. That leaves one spot open other than who could take Cishek spot when the season begins.

Dan Altavilla who came up in August gave up one run in fifteen appearance has the best shot. He throws the ball hard like Diaz so he could be used as a closer to when needed. Another one is Shae Simmons who the Mariners picked up from the Atlanta Braves. He is another hard thrower. He probably will take Cishek’s spot at the beginning of the season.

I will be looking at some of the other pitchers are competing for spots on the Mariner’s roster though they likely will be starting the season in triple A. Also they could be used in trades to add depth with other pitchers or players as well. So we can say “Let it begin”. Go M’s.